Imagine being able to achieve anything you set your mind to, not because you have more hours in the day, but because you use the ones you have more effectively. This is the central theme of this episode of It's Your Business brought to you by the #BoldBusinessPodcast.

We all experience stress and periods of unproductivity. However, these can be minimized—or even avoided—by changing our relationship with time. By embracing what you can control and reframing your approach to productivity, you can create significant shifts in how you use your time to reach your personal, financial and business goals. This could mean saving time, finding time, or even bending time by making decisions with time as a key resource constraint.

Rewrite Your Script on Time Use

Explore the scripts or narratives you have about how you use your time. Your stories might center on the peer pressure surrounding productivity, what is a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ use of time, a false sense of how much time certain activities require, no understanding the costs inherent in constantly switching activities, or the stigma of ‘wasting time.’ Recognizing these patterns can help you be accountable for your relationship with time.

Embracing the Finite Nature of Time

Time is the only truly finite resource we have. You have to come to terms with the limitations of a 24 hour day including the importance of sleep, reflection, and play. By maximizing the time available for specific tasks and the distance between where you are and your specific goals, you dramatically increase your capacity to to handle any challenge. An important exercise to consider is questioning the relevance of tasks to your end goals: Why does this matter right now? Why does this matter to your ultimate objectives?

Creativity Through Embracing Time Constraints

Creativity and innovation often stem from embracing time and prioritizing tasks. Learning to let go of less important tasks and aligning your interests and mission to your goals can enhance your effectiveness and creativity. This involves saying "yes" less often, setting clear expectations, and understanding the sequence of actions required to manage what you can't control. Assessing opportunity costs and levels of commitment can also provide clarity on how repeatable success is and what to do when time feels scarce.

Key Takeaways

1. Stop Using the Phrase “Find the Time”: Replace the notion of "finding time" with an understanding of how you currently view and utilize your time. Avoid comparing your time management to that of other business owners.

2. Plan with the End in Mind: Especially for longer-term goals, planning with the end in mind is crucial. This helps you stay focused and aligned with your ultimate objectives.

3. Your Choices Matter: Every choice you make regarding your time has significance. Be solid in your decisions and fully commit to them. This commitment and clarity can transform how you manage and value your time.

Conclusion

Mastering time management is not about having more hours in the day but about using the hours you have more effectively. By understanding the real costs of poor time management, embracing constraints, and prioritizing your tasks, you can achieve more with the time available to you. Remember, time is your most valuable resource—use it wisely, be accountable to it, and watch how these shifts lead to greater productivity and success.

Purpose First Advisors specializes in helping business owners choose the highest value priorities on which to focus their limited time and energy for maximum results. Let us help you build, grow and exit your business  on purpose, with purpose.

Consistency is the foundation of business success.

It's the steady, persistent effort that propels your business forward and transforms your dreams into reality. Yet, fostering consistent action can be a challenge, especially in the face of distractions, setbacks, and competing priorities.

In this episode of It’s Your Business brought to you by the #BoldBusinessPodcast, we explore strategies for cultivating consistency and achieving your most ambitious personal, financial, and business goals.

In the quest for business success, progress is seldom a stroke of luck or a sudden breakthrough. It's a gradual process, driven by tenacity, the accumulation of small wins, and the ability to decisively say "no" when necessary. By incorporating non-negotiables into your decision-making process, you can streamline your focus, reduce overwhelm, and dedicate time to the deep, impactful work required to build a thriving business.

The Compounding Effect of Choices

The choices you make each day, however small, have a compounding effect over time. Effective communication plays a crucial role in maximizing this effect. It's not enough to share the vision alone; you must also clearly articulate the non-negotiables that guide your work. While persistence can be challenging, sticking to your decisions and consistently taking the next step reveal the best possible path forward. Each effort compounds, with small wins gradually accumulating into significant successes.

The Importance of Non-negotiables

Non-negotiables are essential for shaping your decisions and reducing the need for constant evaluation, thus freeing up time for deep work. By clearly communicating your vision as well as your non-negotiables, you and your team can quickly identify and seize the right opportunities, while confidently saying "no" to distractions. This approach builds credibility, as your focus, confidence and results become evident to others.

Consistent Action: The Key to Longevity

Consistent action - maintaining steady action - is the cornerstone of achieving your biggest business, personal, and financial goals, even in the face of difficulties. Willpower and consistent effort create the momentum needed to push forward, ensuring continuous progress. Success is not an overnight phenomenon but the result of years of persistent effort and small steps taken consistently.

Practical Takeaways

1. Commit to Your Non-negotiables: Always be in the process of doing something and stick to your non-negotiables to create the guardrails for your action so you can stay focused.
2. Consistency is Key: Consistency starts with you. Choose the most important tasks and remain steadfast in your efforts. Regular, focused action builds a strong foundation for success.
3. Build Credibility Through Confidence: Confidence comes from consistency. As you consistently follow through on your commitments, you build credibility with yourself and others, paving the way for sustained success.

Conclusion

Business longevity is a journey of persistence, small wins, and decisive choices. By integrating non-negotiables into your decision-making, communicating effectively, and maintaining consistent action, you build a resilient and thriving business. Remember, success is a compounding effect of your daily choices and efforts. Keep going, stay focused, and let your tenacity drive you towards your biggest goals.

Purpose First Advisors specializes in helping business owners turn overwhelm into consistent action. Let us help you build, grow and exit your business  on purpose, with purpose.

How often do you find yourself trapped in the endless cycle of knowing what to do, yet struggling to actually do it?

It's a common predicament many of us face in various aspects of our lives, whether it's adopting healthier habits, pursuing our passions, or achieving our business goals. The gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it can be vast, but it's not insurmountable.

In this episode of It’s Your Business brought to you by the #BoldBusinessPodcast, we explore strategies to bridge this gap and turn knowledge into action.

Understanding the Knowing-Doing Gap

In our daily lives, we often find ourselves on autopilot, repeating the same routines and behaviors without much thought. These habits, whether good or bad, shape our lives in profound ways. From the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed, our habits influence our productivity, health, and overall well-being, as well as the profitability and value creation in our business.

Very often, we possess the knowledge and information necessary to make a huge impact through our business ventures, yet struggle to translate that knowledge into action. This dissonance between knowing and doing can be frustrating and, at times, paralyzing.

Breaking Down Barriers

So, what prevents us from bridging this gap? Fear of failure, lack of motivation, procrastination, and self-doubt are just a few common barriers that stand in our way as business owners. Additionally, the sheer abundance of information available today can lead to analysis paralysis, where we become overwhelmed by options and fail to take action.

The Power of Implementation Intentions

One effective strategy for overcoming the knowing-doing gap is the use of implementation intentions. This involves specifying when, where, and how you will take action to achieve your goals. By creating a concrete plan and setting specific goals, you reduce the cognitive load of decision-making and increase the likelihood of follow-through. Try this: think of one action you know will have a significant impact on your ability to hit your business and financial goals. Make the key decisions, assemble the necessary resources, and take action.

Embracing Imperfect Action

Another key mindset shift is embracing the concept of imperfect action. Perfectionism often paralyzes us, preventing us from taking any action until conditions are ideal. However, the reality is that conditions will never be perfect, and waiting for the "right" moment only delays progress. Instead, taking imperfect action, even if it's small steps or rough drafts, moves us closer to our goals and builds momentum over time. Try this: pick one thing off your to-do list and do it before the end of the day. Check it off your list.

Accountability and Support

Seeking accountability and support can also bolster our efforts to bridge the knowing-doing gap. Whether you decide to share your goals with a peer, join a business coaching group, post them on social media, or work 1:1 with a coach or mentor, external accountability can provide the motivation and encouragement we need to stay on track. Try this: As Quentin Ortega would say, find your accountabilibuddy to get where your business is today to where you want it to be - faster.

Celebrating Progress

Finally, celebrating progress, no matter how small, is crucial for sustaining motivation and momentum. Acknowledge your efforts and achievements along the way, and don't be too hard on yourself when setbacks occur. Remember, it's not about perfection but progress. Try this: Celebrate the thing you chose to do and checked off your to-do list. Yay! It’s done!

Conclusion

Bridging the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it requires intentional effort and mindset shifts. By breaking down barriers, creating implementation intentions, embracing imperfect action, seeking accountability and support, and celebrating progress, we can overcome inertia and move closer to realizing our aspirations. So, what are you waiting for? Take that first step today and start turning knowledge into action.

Purpose First Advisors specializes in helping business owners turn business desires into measurable results. Let us help you build, grow and exit your business  on purpose, with purpose.

If your team is at max capacity, feeling overwhelmed, or struggling to keep up, they’re doing whatever they can to keep their heads above water.

Unfortunately, the ways they choose to cope might be costing you a lot of money.

Teams that feel stretched too far

- don't spend more time talking with clients than they have to

- limit the choices they offer customers, avoiding opportunities to upsell or increase orders

- keep new ideas to themselves

- focus on getting work done not improving efficiency

- make decisions from a scarcity mindset

- focus on reducing risk rather than creating opportunity

- resist any changes to their routine

- struggle to collaborate with others

As one client’s account executive said, “I know production is stretched so why would I offer the client more design options. They know what they want so I stick to helping them make that happen.”

While you want your employees to use discretion when doing their jobs, you also have to make expectations clear about how you want them to make decisions and give them a framework that can inform their decision making process.

If you’re doing everything you can to drive more qualified leads into your sales pipeline, the last thing you need is someone deciding to avoid the upsell with new and existing clients as a way of limiting capacity constraints and personal feelings of overwhelm.

In some cases, you're probably completely unaware that there are subtle choices your employees are making everyday that impact your top and bottom lines.

Or perhaps you assume they think the way you do or you lack trust in their decision making skills which results in things like work-arounds, micromanagement or lack of delegation.

Growth and consistent profitability can't happen under those circumstances.

Need better insight into how your people are leading from where they are?

• Ask open ended questions that require employees to describe their work experience including their thoughts and feelings
• Ask follow up questions like
  • Help me understand.
  • Please say more about that.
  • Why do you think that is?
  • Can you give me an example?
  • When did this problem start?
  • What concerns can we address immediately?
  • Can you be more specific?
• Explain your sales goals and strategy, and set clear expectations about how they specifically contribute to achieving those goals
• Do regular debriefs to understand workload, customer interactions and concerns
• Give and receive regular feedback
• Role play so employees can practice ways of responding that prioritize your sales goals while managing client expectations regarding timeframes and deadlines
• Use an outside facilitator to improve communication skills
• Give your team specific instructions on how to make real-time decisions based on company values and goals (if/then)
• Ask them what challenges to increasing sales they see and strategize on how to solve them in ways that allow them to feel confident that adding more volume (sales) into the system won’t contribute to further burnout

Struggling to keep up with the resources needed for growth?

1. Map out hiring priorities for the next 12 to 18 months
2. Scope out talent before you need it
3. Use tech and automation when you can
4. Refine and standardize processes to create efficiency and reduce waste
5. Use financial forecasts to hit revenue goals to fund growth
6. Build banking relationships to access growth capital
7. Update contract and payment terms as part of a comprehensive cash flow management strategy
8. Invest in improving your team's communication, accountability and conflict resolution skills
9. Set clear expectations and provide regular coaching
10. Have a process for identifying and resolving issues
11. Make whatever hard decisions need to be made to make the hard work of your team more profitable

Purpose First Advisors specializes in helping business owners level-up their approach to business growth and profitability. Let us help you build, grow and exit your business  on purpose, with purpose.

Developing an exit strategy may seem like a future ‘to do,’ but its benefits extend far beyond the transition.

Having a current strategic plan that focuses on both increasing income and building company value provides clarity, direction, and peace of mind, allowing business owners to navigate the complexities of transition with confidence and foresight.

Investing time and effort into crafting a well-defined value-to-exit strategy is an essential business planning discipline that keeps you focused and consistent.

The benefits of present-tense planning that embeds exit strategy goals in your strategic plans and aligns them to actionable tactics include

1. Clarity about where you’re headed : By envisioning the next stage of your business, you're more likely to make strategic decisions that align with your long-term goals. Having a clear exit strategy helps you set milestones and benchmarks, guiding you towards achieving your desired outcomes.
2. Commitment to building the value of your business: A narrow focus on increasing revenue can sometimes lead you to make short-term decisions that erode long-term value. Considering exit strategy scenarios requires a thorough assessment of the current state of your business and allows you to identify choices that meet profitability and value enhancement goals. This makes it easier to stay committed to building value when making decisions regarding hiring, technology, new product/service development, targeting niche audiences, creating replicable systems, and making other investments.
3. Improving business attractiveness to buyers: Potential buyers are attracted to businesses with well-thought-out exit strategies because it demonstrates a commitment to long-term business goals and the adoption of sustainable business practices that don’t rely on the owner alone. Knowing what buyers look for and consider valuable allows you to intentionally embed those choices in your business strategy.
4. Smoother transitions: When a business is designed to run without daily input from the owner, with a professional team using standard operating procedures to serve a strong and diverse customer base, it’s much easier to transition from one owner to another. The less disruption employees and customers experience the greater the likelihood that the new owners can focus on continuing to grow value.
5. Knowing what you need: Owners who start and operate their business with the end in mind are more likely to have reasonable expectations about the sales process and what sales price they can expect, and be better prepared for life post-exit. Whether you go on to build your next venture or retire, having a clear ‘What’s Next’ plan has been identified as an essential part of a successful exit plan strategy.

Purpose First Advisors specializes in helping business owners level-up their approach to business growth and profitability. Let us help you build, grow and exit your business  on purpose, with purpose.

Get your free, confidential business valuation report here.

A business exit strategy is an owner’s plan for how you will transfer ownership of your business.

It’s a roadmap outlining the steps to be taken to transition out of your business while maximizing value (for you) and minimizing disruption (for employees and customers.)

Exit strategies are typically developed well in advance of your actual exit and may involve several transitions and transactions at different times.

Deciding to leave your business is both a business and deeply personal decision.

Planning a ‘good’ exit looks different for everyone which is why the process actually starts with you deciding what you want from your business.

• Do you expect your business to carry on after you’re gone?
• Do you envision leaving the day-to-day operations before you consider selling at some point?
• Are you counting on selling to fund your retirement?
• Do your children or other family members expect to take over the business? Do you want them to?
• If someone was to buy your business, who might that be?
• What do you want to do when you’re done running your business?

Another important step in planning a business exit is to know your options. This may include

1. Sale to a Third Party: Selling the business to an outside strategic buyer, financial buyer, or private equity group. This could involve an unsolicited offer, negotiated sale or an auction process.
2. Merger or Acquisition: Merging the business with another company or being acquired by a larger entity. This can offer synergistic benefits and economies of scale.
3. Selling to Existing Partners: Usually buy-sell agreements outline the terms for buying out a partner.
4. Management Buyout (MBO): Selling all or part of the ownership to its current management team. This typically involves the management team using business assets to finance part of the project. It can be a way to ensure continuity and preserve the company's legacy.
5. Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP): The company uses borrowed funds to acquire shares from the owner and contributes the shares to a trust on behalf of employees. This can incentivize and reward employees while facilitating the owner's exit.
6. Passing on to Family Members: Selling or gifting ownership and management control to the next generation within the family. This can be a way to preserve family values and traditions while ensuring continuity. It typically results in less or no capital for the seller.
7. Initial Public Offering (IPO): Taking the company public by offering shares to the public for the first time. This can provide liquidity for existing shareholders and raise capital for future growth. Technically an exit option but one that few business owners will use.
8. Orderly Liquidation: Closing down the business and selling off its assets. This may be necessary if the business is no longer viable or if the owner(s) wish to exit quickly. It’s important to remember that you don’t always have to sell all your ownership in one transaction. By selling part of the business at a time you can often recapitalize to fund growth, retain a portion of ownership, continue to be involved in running the business, and get a ‘second bite at the apple’ which can create more wealth than a single exit. Increasing your understanding of exit planning as a process, not an event, makes it easy to see how it makes sense to integrate it into your current strategic growth plan. Purpose First Advisors specializes in helping business owners level-up their approach to business growth and profitability. Let us help you build, grow and exit your business  on purpose, with purpose.

Get your free, confidential business valuation report here.

Knowing what your business is worth, identifying how you can increase its value and mapping out a plan that allows you to achieve personal, financial and business goals allows you to move from being an owner with an income stream to an investor in your own future.

This month my husband and I will celebrate 20 years of marriage. 

I was 30 and my parents were 53 when I tied the knot.

I turned 50 in December. 

A lot happens in 20 years whether you plan for it or not. 

In addition to starting my business, getting my MBA, and becoming a CEPA, over the last 20 years I’ve lost my dad, watched my mom successfully battle cancer, and started the process of being an adult child to aging loved ones. 

Over the next 20 years, a lot of other things will happen - many of them wonderful, exciting and life affirming. At 73, my mom is moving into a new phase of her life and at 50, so am I.

• Retirement planning conversations feel a lot more relevant than they did a few years ago.

• I spend more time thinking about ‘what else’ I want to do with/in my life more than I worry about figuring out what I want to be when I grow up.  
• I look at what I want to learn and how I want to grow my business through the lens of what will make me happy while meeting my financial needs. And how can I be of service to others who’ve invested so much of themselves into building their own businesses. 
• I’m getting pickier about who I want to work, play and grow with, being more intentional about how and with whom I spend my time and energy.
• I’m interested in doing what I can to control what’s reasonable and let go of that which is out of my control.
• I believe money is a tool, knowledge is power and planning makes sense.

For me, becoming a certified exit planning advisor is a natural extension of being a strategic growth advisor. It means I can help my clients be focused and intentional about where they put their resources to get the best possible result for both near and long term results.

I help you make what feels (or felt) like far off decisions present-tense and relevant to the business decisions you’re making today. Understanding what your business is worth and how your business can become more valuable in the market increases the near term financial benefit to you and the choices you can make in the future.

• Increased business value increases the money available to make a greater number of choices.

• Having more choices gives you more control over your life. 
• Feeling more control over your life is the single most important factor impacting your happiness (according to the experts.)  

Purpose First Advisors specializes in helping business owners level-up their approach to business growth and profitability. Let us help you build, grow and exit your business  on purpose, with purpose.

Get your free, confidential business valuation report here.

Seriously, you can’t!

Lots of successful business owners will tell you how they built their business at the expense of their mental and physical health, marriage, relationships, financial wellbeing and spiritual wellness.

Or you may have heard the ones about how the owner worked themselves to death - never getting to enjoy vacation, retirement or other fruits of their labor.

I don’t know about you, but that’s not what I signed up for.

That’s why I recently did an episode of the #BOLDBusinessPodcast with host, Jess Dewell, Managing Partner at Red Direction, and Quentin Ortega, Founder and Lead Consultant at QCO Consulting to discuss what to do when you can’t work any harder.

It really starts with making choices - deciding what you really want and what you’re not willing to sacrifice along the way.

By prioritizing, you get to focus on being consistent (way more important than discipline) in how you use and manage your energy to understand and focus on doing the things that create the most value for you and your business so the right people are doing the right work at the right time to achieve shared (read: clear and understood) outcomes.

A business exit strategy starts long before you’re ready to sell because the things that reduce your work load, increase your freedom, and improve profitability are also the things that build value for buyers.

Often at the top of a buyer’s list - can the business operate profitably and continue to grow without the owner?

You heard me, they they don’t want to buy from an owner who has to put in 60 hours a week and never takes a vacation.

They want to buy a business that has standard operating procedures, professional management, sustainable recurring revenue and low customer concentration from a business owner who designed their business to live beyond them.

Building a sellable business takes forethought and intention. It requires you to prioritize so you can work smarter, not harder. It requires a team that understand your priorities and consistently focuses on doing the things required to get the best results.

Let us help you build it.

Purpose First Advisors specializes in helping business owners level-up their approach to business growth and profitability. Let us help you build, grow and exit your business  on purpose, with purpose.

It's super easy to think of the things that drive you crazy about being a business owner.

Right now, somethin’ is workin’ your nerves!

And since energy follows intention, you could be sending a lot of energy into perpetuating the things that are most frustrating, distracting, annoying or worrisome about your business.

Being intentional about the mindset and heart-set you bring to your business everyday can help

• Reset the tone and mood of your work/workplace
• Direct energy to it’s highest and best use (aka - creating the outcomes that define your business success)
• Keep you and your team motivated and focused
• Give you the creativity you need to be resourceful and resilient

Not feelin' the love? Try these three strategies:

1. Practice gratitude: Write down the things your business has made possible for you, your family, employees, clients and community in the last 90 days or more. If your business wasn't here, what would be missed? What might other people say they're grateful for that your business made possible? What would you be doing now if you weren’t growing your business and how would you feel?

Even if your business isn’t yet living up to all your expectations - what’s going right?

2. Embrace reality: Chances are, you have a few stories you tell yourself about your business - why this happens or that’s not possible. Take a look at the things in your business that are consistently frustrating. Those things are likely features (built in by design) rather than bugs (mistakes that need can/will be eliminated.)

If you accept those things as features, how might your feelings about the situation change? If you reset your expectations and, for example, accept that certain things require long time lines or that churn is the norm for certain positions, can you plan accordingly and reduce your frustration? What other benefits will come for planning for rather than working around or ignoring certain realities of how your business operates?

3. Celebrate the small stuff: When you're super focused on the future, you can lose site of the small wins along the way. Celebrating incremental progress on big goals will help you and your team feel good about the journey, especially when the destination feels far off.

Ask yourself what you want to celebrate at the end of the next 90 days. This might include celebrating what you stopped, started, delegated, outsourced, documented, decided, or resolved. (Psst - there’s nothing wrong with adding some early wins to get things going!)

Write it down and identify what next steps will help you make that celebration a reality.

Schedule time to review your wins and make a big deal about what you and your team have accomplished.

BONUS Tip! You are not your business. You get to decide how you feel about how your business operates, what outcomes it creates for you, and whether it is living up to your expectations.

Even when things don’t go the way you want or expected, you can choose how you feel about it and if you act on those feelings.

Think about who you are surrounded by and whether they help you identify and manage your emotions. Do they help you see how a mistake created a learning opportunity? Do they challenge you to see situations from different perspectives? Do they encourage you to keep trying? Do they acknowledge how hard being a business owner is while also helping you unleash its potential?

Leveling up your peers and advisors can unlock new ways of thinking and feeling about your business and the many roles you play in i!

Purpose First Advisors specializes in helping business owners level-up their approach to business growth and continuity. Let us help you build, grow and exit your business  on purpose, with purpose.

I know a lot of business owners who look forward to the day when they don’t have to show up at the office any more. 

Yet how to exit your business may not feel like the most relevant thing to focus on right now. Maybe you aren’t ready to sell or don’t know if you even want to sell.

But I bet that one of the reasons you decided to build a business was more personal freedom.

It’s hard to be free when the business that was meant to increase your independence and flexibility has you chained to an office, desk, production floor or job site.

Those chains are known as owner dependence - your business depends on you to perform core functions, make and deliver on sales, solve problems, make key decision, or do the job of 2 or more people.

If your business depends on you in this way, it may be out of necessity. Or perhaps it’s by design.

Building a successful business is gratifying. So it solving big problems, landing new business, developing new products and being in control. That’s why it’s so easy to get chained up and stay that way.

Which means, one of the biggest hurdles that stands between you and the freedom you’ve always wanted your business to provide is: YOU.

Aside from being a huge red flag to a potential buyer, owner dependence is the thing that will keep you tethered to your business long after you want to get out of the day-to-day (which is probably years before you wan to exit.)

By making yourself indispensable, you’re taking on more than one person should and creating bottlenecks that starve the business of the oxygen it needs to grow.

It’s also likely that you’re overstating profit because you’re not hiring and training a professional management team to execute your vision. 

I know, no one cares about your business as much as you do. And no one you’ve tried bringing in as a “number two” has come close to being as good as you at key functions like sales. 

But if you 

• Don’t take vacation or have to do work while away 
• Don’t have someone on your team you trust to make decisions without your input or approval
• Are the person everyone calls when there’s a problem 
• Can’t imagine sharing your financials with anyone but your CPA 
• Are the only person at the company that some clients will do business with 
• Are 100% dependent on your business for your family’s financial wellbeing 
• Personally make regular capital contributions so your business can meet its obligations

Then you’re on a path to nowhere. 

Creating business transferability - being prepared to fire yourself - starts with identifying all the ways your business depends on you to function and how you encourage that dependence to your own detriment. 

At the heart of each functional role that keeps you tied to your business is a failure to delegate. Failure to delegate is often tied to a lack of trust in others, a lack of process for others to follow, a fear of having your decisions questioned, a desire to avoid feeling vulnerable or exposed, and trepidation about what it means for your business to truly exist without you. 

So where do you start? 

Shift your mindset 

• Care more about what’s best for the company (employees, customers, vendors) than being right or in control
• Redefine your role by removing line-worker and management responsibilities and focusing on coaching and mentoring others, communicating your vision and setting strategy  
• Define your self and self worth separate from your role as owner 
• Believe in your ability to find and cultivate talented people who share your vision and want to lead
• Set clear competency and performance expectations so leaders can earn your trust
• Lean into your values by giving them greater clarity and showing employees how to use them to lead from where they are
• Intentionally come to see yourself as owner/investor rather than owner operator and act accordingly

 Build a Team

• Create a management team with defined functional responsibilities 
• Determine what ongoing training and coaching employees need to succeed when promoted from within or hired from the outside 
• Delegate tasks and authority - allow others to make decisions and be accountable to you for the results
• Introduce other leaders to the clients, vendors, and peers who prefer to work with you directly and explicitly transfer responsibility for knowing and working together to both of them
• Define what success looks like, provide people with the resources needed to achieve the desired results and create a feedback loop that fosters a culture of accountability 

Make things replicable

• Have someone interview you about how and why you do what you do as the first step in documenting your responsibilities
• Require your team to create step-by-step process documentation for their activities 
• Create standard operating procedures that don’t currently exist  
• Take yourself out of the process chain and insert new management team leaders 
• Require all employees to follow documented processes
• Creating onboarding and ongoing training programs for processes and procedures
• Invest in technology and automation to improve efficiency and to create transparent KPI reporting 
• Identify and actively grow new leaders through intentional mentoring and coaching 
• Clean up financial and other records so you feel comfortable sharing them with others

Step out of the spotlight

• Let others be the face of the company with external stakeholders 
• Elevate the public profile of your leaders through marketing and public relations
• Create a management team with and through whom you discuss and resolve issues, make decisions and communicate vision, strategy and tactics to staff
• Build new networks to support recruitment and to help you prepare for your ‘what’s next’ Purpose First Advisors specializes in helping business owners make succession and exit planning present-tense. Let us help you build, grow and exit your business  on purpose, with purpose.